Accenture, the firm formerly known as Andersen Consulting, announces its first outside appointment with the addition of Pat Anslinger to the global management team.Pat Anslinger is the new Global Head for Mergers & Acquisitions. Mergers & Acquisitions is part of the firm's Strategy and Business Architecture practice, which will focus on the agendas of senior executives.

RSM McGladrey, Inc., a subsidiary of H&R Block, has announced a national alliance with three major insurance companies to provide life insurance solutions for McGladrey clients.Jefferson Pilot Financial, Pacific Life Insurance Company, and National Life Insurance Company will work locally with McGladrey wealth management planning teams through a network of approximately 85 independent agents nationwide to provide insurance services to McGladrey clients.RSM McGladrey's financial planners will not receive commissions based on an individual's life insurance purchases.

According to recent reports, Hewlett-Packard has lowered its bid to buy PricewaterhouseCoopers because the firm isn't worth as much as previously thought.The difference is about $3 billion. Several months ago when talks first began to buy PwC, HP was willing to pay as much as $18 billion because that's how much the firm was valued at given its stock and cash.

Effective January 1, 2001, Andersen Consulting will go by the new name of Accenture, the firm announced on Thursday. The change in name was forced on the firm by the divorce arrangements brokered in August by the International Chambers of Commerce.

Arthur Andersen, LLP and Atlanta-based CollegeNet are crossing the Atlantic to deliver online learning throughout the United Kingdom.The courses are targeted at the U.K.'s small business community, with a philosophy that this size business wants to take parts of courses in shorter segments rather than spend the time and money on an entire course.

According to a survey by the CPA Personnel Report, 11.7 percent of the partners at the top 25 firms in the United States are women.Overall, this is a relatively small percentage. However, progress for women continues to be made. Four years ago, that number was only 6.7 percent.

We all knew this was bound to happen sooner or later ... Amazon.com is getting into the credit card business with their own version of a branded affinity card.They have selected NextCard to handle the business.

Leading the pack on the Forbes Magazine annual list of the 500 largest private companies in terms of revenue is Cargill, followed by Koch Industries.

A Securities and Exchange Commission inquiry into the independence of Pricewaterhouse accountants working at communications firm Pinnacle Holdings has been made formal.The move follows an 'informal' investigation launched in August, and has been greeted with muted annoyance by the communication site provider.Pinnacle told the press that the firm "has become unfairly embroiled in the policy and political debate over these issues and that, as a result,